Kristen Ortman was named the head coach of Parkside Softball in 2017.
In 2025, she guided the Rangers to one of their best seasons in recent history, finishing 29-24 overall for the program’s winningest year since 2010. Parkside advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship game for the second time in three years, with standout Mia Johnson earning All-American honors. The Rangers’ offense also made history, finishing with the ninth-most runs scored in a single season and the second-most home runs in program history.
In 2024, Ortman’s squad went 19-33 overall, highlighted by a conference tournament victory over Wayne State and another strong year for Johnson, who earned All-Region recognition. The 2023 season was a breakthrough, as Parkside doubled its win total from the previous year, finishing 19-32. Ortman earned her 100th career victory in a historic upset over Grand Valley State in the GLIAC Tournament, a win that propelled the Rangers to their first-ever GLIAC Championship game appearance.
The Rangers qualified for the GLIAC Tournament in 2022 behind individual honors for Taylor Delgado (First Team All-GLIAC), Rylee Baetz, and Jadynn Powell. In 2021, Parkside finished 17-29 overall, with four Rangers receiving All-GLIAC honors, including First Team selection Megan Aliverti. The 2020 season was cut short by COVID-19, though Ortman’s squad went 8-8 before play was halted.
In their first season in the GLIAC in 2019, the Rangers finished 8-44, but showed resilience down the stretch, highlighted by a five-game winning streak and seven wins in an eight-game span. Both Kellie Fenza and Adrien Hall earned All-GLIAC Honorable Mention honors. In her second season (2018), Ortman led the Rangers to a 21-27 finish, marking back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2007–08, and securing statement wins including a sweep of eventual NCAA Division II National Champion Southern Indiana.
Ortman made an immediate impact in her first season at Parkside (2017), guiding the Rangers to a 19-29 overall record with a 13-15 GLVC mark and a 10-6 record at home. Following that season, senior pitcher Carly Dundee became Parkside’s first D2CCA All-Region honoree since 2010.
Before coming to Parkside, Ortman built Alverno College into one of the most competitive programs in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. During her seven-year tenure, she recorded four of the five winningest seasons in program history and set school records in career victories, single-season wins, conference wins, and team ERA. She coached 12 all-conference players and two NFCA All-Region honorees, while also developing 14 NACC Scholar-Athletes.
A former standout pitcher, Ortman starred at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where she earned First Team All-Horizon League honors in 2005 and helped the Phoenix to a Horizon League Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. She also earned All-Conference recognition in 2003 and 2004 and graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
A native of New Berlin, Wis., Ortman was a prep star at Eisenhower High School, where she helped her team reach the state tournament in back-to-back seasons and set a state tournament record with 16 strikeouts in a single game in 2001.
